Entregarme
by Blue Funk
Summary: This is called entregarme," Axel murmured as soon as they were in position. Their hips pressed together softly and the dancer's lips came hovering dangerously close to Roxas's ear. "To surrender, or give oneself up to the leader's lead."
1. Parejas

Tango, tango, tango. Man, all I've been doing today is watching tango videos. xD This fic is written for Nijuuni from dA, whose "To Move as One" picture made me want to go and … well, write this. I'm estimating that it'll be about three chapters. I do hope you like it, m'dear :3

* * *

**Entregarme**

Step One - "Parejas"

* * *

_Parejas - Couple: The two partners in a tango_

There was always something about the flow of dance that attracted him. The brisk choreography. The dazzling suits and dresses. The hushed stares of the crowd. The fleeting smile of encouragement and exhilaration that you receive from your partner as you go through your steps. The muffled silence that passes over your ears as everything fades out until all that remains is the tempo, the clack of your shoes against the floor, and the steady beat of your heart. The very pounding tempo that moved your very bones… and then broke them.

Literally.

"I'm so sorry about this, Axel." The willowy girl smiled sheepishly, one hand coming up to scratch at the back of her bob haircut.

"S'alright. It's more my fault than anything else, Yuffie." Axel replied with a gloomy tone, doodling loops with his finger on the hospital bed sheet, unwilling as he was to meet her eyes. "Don't apologize for that freak accident."

The black-haired patient laughed, smacking away Axel's hand. The red-head finally looked up. "So you tripped a little. Don't worry about it."

"… Yuffie, I broke your ankle."

"_We_ broke my ankle." She corrected Axel with a smile, looking for all the world like she wasn't cooped up in a hospital bed with her leg in wraps. "I'm more worried about you, now. You're an amazing ballroom dancer, you can snatch up any partner you want."

"That's not true… Yuffie, you're the best partner I could hope for." Axel wrung his hands together, now a truly miserable look coming over him as the main problem of the matter was put on the table. "The International Standard is coming up in a month, what am I going to do, teach a whole new routine to a rookie? All the other good partners are already taken."

"You'll be fine, Axel. Just a little tango. It's nothing."

Sure. Sure it was. Just a little dance, a little movement of the hips and the legs. Axel scowled to himself as he walked down the windy street of his city, barely even paying attention to where he was going. It was _only_ tango, one of the most passionate dances ever brought to light. A dance of subtle love and attraction in a smooth flow of movement between two people.

Yuffie had been perfect. She was small, lithe, and had excellent reaction time. The quick footwork that Axel's routine demanded had required almost no effort from the expert dancer.

But a rather strenuous practice session that morning had been a little too pressing for Axel. He had gotten… _distracted_… and somehow, his feet had tangled with Yuffie's. The two had fallen over, but Axel's partner had been wearing heels at the time, which only made the situation worse. Her one foot had slipped into an awkward position and Axel went and flopped over onto it. The resounding crack of bone still echoed in his ears.

To say the least, Axel would be the laughing stock of his dance studio for a while. Axel, the best ballroom dancer of the city, has two left feet? It made the red-head want to walk out into the middle of the chilly autumn street to just get run over and end his misery.

Luckily, before his feet even managed to take the first step towards inevitable death, the dancer's phone rang.

"Hey, you." A soft voice spoke through the receiver, chuckling.

"Roxas." A smile immediately came to Axel's lips, suicide idea immediately forgotten. He began moving back down the sidewalk again, boots clicking as his scarf swayed along behind him. "What's up?"

"I've set up an audition session for you. You're planning on finding a new partner, right?"

"Ah." Axel's smile squished back into a frown. "Yeah. That. Um."

Roxas's amused voice immediately took on a reproachful tone. "You _are_ still planning on going to the competition next month, aren't you?"

Roxas was a good friend of Axel's since college. They had both attended a dance-oriented academy and joined the same studio afterward. However, while Axel specialized in actually dancing, Roxas was a choreographer. The two friends supported each other faithfully; Roxas created the dances and Axel performed them. They were an up and coming team, but heads were already turning at the intricate and stylish performances that Axel and Yuffie had given at other competitions.

The tango was a newer routine, though; usually Roxas didn't go for such passion-oriented, Latin dances, so Axel had decided to try his own hand at choreography. Roxas had agreed, letting Axel do his own thing while the blonde himself went off to put more effort into the dance classes he held every week for non-members of the studio.

The blonde had also been on the other side of the room when Axel had snapped Yuffie's ankle and had been the first to call for an ambulance. He also seemed to be most concerned with Axel still performing the tango.

What Roxas didn't realize, however, was that he was the primary cause of the accident. Funny how a mere little distraction could turn a situation into a disaster.

It had started out innocently enough that morning. Axel and Yuffie had been practicing their tango on one side of the room. Roxas, meanwhile, had been fine-turning his samba lesson plan for the day. Usually, sharing a room wasn't a problem. However, the air conditioning had gone out the previous day and both parties quickly grew hot. While Yuffie and Axel ignored their discomfort, as intent as they were on practicing, Roxas had chosen to peel off his shirt.

Axel turned his head just in time to witness a firm and fit torso thrown into the open as Roxas tossed away the sweat-soaked garment and flicked his hair away from his face with a sigh, eyes half-closed as the tiny droplets of perspiration on his cheeks and forehead either flew away with the hair or proceeded to drip down his face and onto his chest.

Needless to say, Axel had been enamored enough with the sight that the idea of actually keeping up with Yuffie had flown from his head and thus, the horrendous accident.

Granted, Axel had yet to mention just why Yuffie was currently lying in the hospital with her ankle in a cast and why Axel was partner-less for an international dance competition in a month while being bogged down with a realization that he was crushing for his best mate.

The red-head sighed, a few stray hairs from his face as he continued walking down the street. "Yes, I'm still going. Just tell me when."

"Mm, that's better." Roxas hummed in approval. "So you'll show up tomorrow at noon for try-outs, right?"

"Do I have a choice?"

Axel could already imagine the satisfied smirk on Roxas's face. "No."

"Then noon it is."

Axel hung up the phone without another word, shoving it back into his pocket with a gloomy exhale of breath and pausing at an intersection as he did so. He had his doubts about the auditions tomorrow. It would be a perfect opportunity for eager girls to scurry out to attempt and "impress" him with their non-existent skills. And that worried him. The chances of actually finding a decent partner were slim.

"Why am I even bothering?" He muttered, rolling his eyes as he stepped off the sidewalk to cross the street without looking for traffic. A moment later, a car came to a screeching halt inches away from him. The driver immediately stuck his head out the window, cigarette hanging from his lips.

"The _hell_ are you doing!? Do you _want_ to die?"

If Axel had known what would happen the next day at try-outs, he probably would have said yes.

* * *

"Alright, Roxas. What the hell have you gotten me into?" The red-head groaned, sitting down at the table where he would watch all of the auditions. They were taking place in the exact same area as where he had tumbled the day before; the training room, with the worn wood-paneled floors and mirrors with bars running along the side. Roxas only smiled, standing and holding a clip-board with a list of all of the people trying out.

"Don't give me that look. It's for your own good. I won't have you moping about after you nearly killed Yuffie. She wants you to perform, too, y'know. Especially after all that work you put into making those tango dance steps."

Axel didn't reply. His sulking pout was enough of a response for Roxas to interpret as "Yeah, alright. Let's just get this over with before I change my mind."

The blonde grinned and went off to usher in the first girl. As he turned his back, Axel couldn't hold back a small smile at Roxas's determination. He truly was a good friend who had his best intentions in mind. Axel didn't come by people like Roxas often, if ever. But he'd be damned if he ever showed Roxas just _how_ grateful he was. The choreographer would only end up with a swelled head and another reason to tease Axel, anyway.

The blonde shortly returned with a girl and her partner in tow. As soon as Roxas joined Axel at the table, the couple hurried out to the middle of the room, the female half appearing to the be the more controlling of the two, as she had almost forcefully dragged her partner there.

Axel was handed the form that the girl had filled out beforehand. Her beaming face stared up at him from the paper, as well as her wide, loopy handwriting. The red-head just barely managed to discern that her name was Kairi and that her previous experience consisted of being a back-up dancer in some music videos. Classy.

"So, uh, _Kairi_." Axel tilted his head, finally looking up at the fidgety pair. At least, the male was fidgety. "Why are you auditioning here today?"

The girl, a red-head herself, beamed widely. "_Well,_ I really love to dance! My dream has always been to be a ballroom dancer, you know, and I would love to start out my career with you, Mr. Lustrada, sir! My mother was actually pretty famous; you might have heard of her, she used to be a really popular lambada danc-"

"Alright, good enough." Axel cut in smoothly, struggling to keep a smile on his lips as he waved off the rest of Kairi's explanation. "What'll you be dancing for us today?"

"I decided, to, ah, leave it a surprise for you!" Kairi replied happily, her tight hold on her partner's hand increasing. Axel's smile dropped immediately at her words.

"I gave you the CD, right?"

"I have it here." Roxas briefly flashed the case - a bright pink one, no less- before sliding it into the boombox he had set up alongside the table. "Ready?"

"One second!" Kairi hurried into position, tugging her partner this way and that. "_Tidus_, stop standing there!"

Her blonde partner scowled gloomily as he allowed Kairi to drag him into place, on hand with hers and the other on her waist. "I can't believe I let you drag me into this."

"_Shut up!_" She hissed before flashing Axel and Roxas a dazzling smile. "Ok, we're ready!"

Wordlessly, Roxas hit the play button. Almost instantaneously, a thick, booming rap song began screeching from the player's speakers. Axel turned an alarmed eye towards Roxas first, exchanging surprised looks with him, before turning back to the couple to see them dancing. Dancing being a loose interpretation of the word. Kairi had immediately pivoted so that her back was pressed to Tidus's chest and the two were now fiercely rocking against each other in a grind amidst the blaring music.

Axel's eyes proceeded to nearly melt out of his head and Roxas only choked on his laughter, a hand coming up to clap over his mouth. The dancing pair didn't seem to notice, but Axel eventually managed to reach around Roxas and slam the "stop" button. Kairi and Tidus seemed to finally return to reality as soon as the song came to a dead halt.

Axel grappled briefly with what to say. He managed a forced grin first. "Er..."

Kairi unglued herself from Tidus and hurried forward to grab her CD. "How, uh, how soon do you think it will take for call-backs?"

Roxas smiled reassuringly, holding back his laughter as he handed back the case. "A couple of days, at most. Don't worry, we'll be sure to call you first. Thank you."

As soon as Kairi had shoved Tidus out the door, Axel's head dropped to the desk with a thud.

"Ok. We're done here. I quit."

"Shut up, it was only the first one." Roxas snorted with amusement, leaning back in his chair as he did so. "Although I suppose I should have filtered out the applicants a little better…"

"Y'know what? I'll do that myself." Roxas blinked in surprise as Axel stormed from his seat to the door connecting the training room to the hallway where all the other applicants were waiting. The red-head stuck his head through. In an instant, the crowd hushed. Axel cleared his throat.

"If anyone else came here today to try and impress me with their dances from your damn high school prom night, I suggest you leave now. These are auditions for ballroom dance, not who's better at attempt to make babies standing!" And with that, he irritatedly retreated, snapping the door shut behind him.

Axel returned to a mildly amused Roxas. "I feel much better now."

For the next two hours, Axel was subjected to numerous couples and pairs. Thankfully, the rest came prepared with actual ballroom routines. Some were decent, others were rather disastrous, and a rare few even possessed some talent. None, however, were up to Axel and Yuffie's standard.

Axel, quite frankly, was not surprised. He hadn't expected to find any hidden dance experts in the auditions; all of them had already been taken months ago. But still… some of the entries he witnessed were just atrocious.

The worst of all had been the very last couple.

Axel stared at the pair across from him. "Er, I think you must be in the wrong audition session. This is for ballroom dance, specifically tango?"

The first of the pair smiled brightly. "No, no, we're in the right place."

His partner grinned a little in embarrassment, scratching at the back of his head in a move reminiscent of Yuffie. "It's just that, ah… both our female partners have gone missing, you see, so Demyx and I just decided to pair up for our audition."

Axel cleared his throat with difficulty, looking over the couple's audition sheet. "But, ah, y'see, it's those female partners of yours that I want to see. You're both male leads, and that position's already taken by me…"

The two men looked at each other and the taller of the two, a gangly male with a strange mullet … Axel squinted his eyes… mohawk… _thing_… spoke first.

"You didn't specify that in the ad. You just said that you were looking for a partner for a tango routine for next month's International, right? So why can't Sora and I audition?"

"You didn't put that I need a girl?" Axel looked sharply at Roxas, who looked just as bewildered as he did.

"I thought I had…" The blonde said slowly, a smile slowly creeping onto his lips. "But I guess not. I just assumed that only girls would show up, I suppose."

"Wonderful…" Axel grumbled to himself, already quite beside himself from the previous two hours worth of auditions.

"Hey!" The one named Sora suddenly put his hands onto his hips and cocked his head, pushing his lips out into a pout. His mop of hair also flopped over with the action. "You have something against dancing with guys?"

Axel flinched, surprised at Sora's aggressiveness. "Well, no, but-"

Demyx crossed his arms, scowling as he thrust his hip to one side to show his disgust. "Then you should let us audition!"

Finding himself cornered by the two flamboyant men, Axel turned to Roxas for assistance with a helpless whimper. Roxas merely shrugged, now quite unable to restrain himself from laughing under his breath. "I say let them audition. It won't do you any harm."

"Yeah!" Sora waved his hand about to match his energetic response. "Listen to your boyfriend there and let us dance!"

"Boyfriend?!" The blonde and red-head squeaked simultaneously, Roxas nearly falling backwards in the chair he had been leaning in while Axel came close to smacking his head back down to the table. Demyx and Sora smirked, tasting success.

Swallowing weakly, Axel could only manage to flop his hand in Roxas's general direction to motion for him to start the music. Demyx and Sora immediately flew into position with extravagant flourishes of their arms as Roxas hit play. Obnoxiously loud and, for lack of a better word, _fruity_ Spanish music filled the room. Axel could barely hold back the image of Carmen Miranda in his mind, decked out with her full outfit, including the bowl on her head, maracas in her hand, and tropically colored dresses.

Roxas just about passed out next to him, but Axel managed to hold on long enough to witness Demyx and Sora's dance collapse into pieces. Demyx had been the lead, but as he had been in the middle of spinning Sora back in for his grand finale, the smaller brunette had slipped and ended up tripping into Demyx. Needless to say, the two ended up in a small pile on the floor shortly after just as the last notes of the song played out.

"Demyx!" Sora wailed, starting to punch the other man in the chest. "You messed it all up!"

"Me?!" Demyx's voice rose to a painfully high pitch. "You're the one who slipped like the fruitcake you are! It's your fault! I knew I shouldn't have agreed to this."

The two continued to squabble and beat at each other. Axel managed to break free of his daze to just barely stand and escort the pair out the door.

"Thank you very much for your audition!" He yelled over the arguing couple. "You'll hear from us in a few days!"

The long-winded try-out session came to a dramatic end. Axel slumped back into his chair with a loud groan.

"Dear god, I am _doomed_." There was no way in hell that he would be able to find a partner now. Not with people like Demyx and Sora showing up at his doorstep. Or Kairi and Tidus, for that matter. Or combinations of the two. Axel shuddered to himself.

Roxas responded by burying his head in his arms. His shoulders began to shake and at first, Axel thought that Demyx and Sora's performance had driven him to hysterical tears.

A sudden explosion of laughter from the blonde proved that Roxas indeed had been driven to hysterics, but not the type that Axel had first thought.

"Oh god, I think you should go with Sora. He had quite the footwork." Roxas giggled to himself, still doubled over. It appeared that the choreographer had already gotten over his shock, leaving Axel to resist the temptation of smacking his friend upside the head.

Instead, he threw up his hands in exasperation. "I don't even know what that_ was!_ Cha cha? Samba?"

Roxas couldn't resist another jab in Axel's side. "Tango, obviously. I hope you took notes, their routine was pretty advanced. Especially their last few steps. That was just epic. You're calling them back, right?"

"As soon as I sign up for the Ice Capades and you for the Insane Asylum, yes." Axel mumbled back scathingly as he took on a Roxas-like scowl and slouched in his seat. "Didn't even know that male-male pairs in dancing were popular these days. I might as well enlist you for my partner."

Roxas chuckled as Axel reached over to pull out Demyx's atrocious CD and insert his own CD, the one carrying the tango tune to which he and Yuffie usually practiced. The soft, latin music swept over the two as they fell silent, occupied with their own thoughts.

"Actually…" Axel said eventually, pursing his lips as an idea came to his mind. "That's not even half-bad."

Roxas looked up from the folder of audition forms. "What is?"

Keeping his rising hope quelled for the moment, Axel hurriedly grabbed at Roxas's hands. "It's a little crazy, but it just might work."

Eyeing the eager look in Axel's eye and smiling bemusedly, Roxas only laughed again. "What? What are you going on about?"

"Here, c'mon." Axel gave Roxas's hands another tug. "Stand up, let's dance."

Startled at the sudden request, Roxas immediately pulled his hands back from Axel's warm grip. "Dance? Are you serious? I think that that last audition went to your head, Axel. Maybe you should go home and take a break for a while."

"I'm serious!" Axel protested, but quickly fell silent at Roxas's inflexible, dubious expression. Instead, the red-head allowed his features to soften. He'd need to try another approach.

"Dance with me." Axel said softly, cajolingly, standing and shoving away his chair as the tango track continued to play. Roxas only stared at him from his own seat, a frown marring his features and wrinkling his forehead.

"Now? Axel, we're in the middle of a crisis here. A minute ago, you were freaking out. Honestly…" The blonde laughed again, this time in disbelief. "We just went through the most willing dancers in the area and _none_ of them are up for your routine. What are we gonna do with you?"

Axel shook his head stubbornly, holding out his hand for Roxas. "C'mon, just get up and dance with me. Stop worrying."

Roxas looked long and hard at the red-head before, with a resigned sigh and a roll of his blue eyes, he gave in and stood, taking Axel's hand as he did so. "Fine. But I'm only doing this because we're friends and these weird whims of yours sometimes help us out."

It wasn't the first time Axel had danced with Roxas. Before Yuffie had come along, the two had practiced together multiple times with the intent of Roxas teaching Axel new dance steps. Like always, Axel took the lead, as well as Roxas's hip with his other hand, and led him out to the open area of the training room. It was such a familiar gesture that Roxas didn't even hesitate.

"This is called _entregarme_," Axel murmured as soon as they were in position. Their hips pressed together softly and the dancer's lips came hovering dangerously close to Roxas's ear. "To surrender, or give oneself up to the leader's lead."

The blonde merely raised an eyebrow at the other man's calm attitude, allowing Axel to set their arms in the proper dance position, then pull him closer. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." Axel smiled, easing into a simple 8-count step. "Just a little tango."

"I fail to see the point of this." replied Roxas, maintaining his cool and composure as he moved with Axel effortlessly while keeping a loose grip on the other dancer's upper arm. The blonde witnessed the intense green spark that always came over Axel's stare when the red-head danced. He faltered. "Wait, how is this helping us to find you a partner?"

"It probably isn't." Axel started into a walk, keeping his eyes locked with Roxas's as he led him about the room, keeping to the beat perfectly. "I just wanted to see if you could keep up. You usually don't go for the Latin dances… you're too conservative."

The hairs at the back of Roxas's neck stood up as Axel whispered the last phrase into his ear. He briefly had a moment of respite when the taller man spun him, but as soon as he returned to his embrace, there was a smirk playing about the choreographer's lips. He knew a challenge when he saw one.

"Take your best shot." He replied slowly. To emphasize his point, Roxas abruptly jerked Axel to a halt and teasingly lifted his leg to press it against Axel's hip. It was a popular move in tango, but was usually performed by a woman. Even Yuffie had been more subtle than that. Axel nearly choked in surprise as the blonde's leg stroked his own in a downward motion. As soon as Roxas's foot returned to the floor, the red-head moved, taking a firmer grip around Roxas and spinning the two of them to finish with Roxas arching back in a dip, held up by Axel's arms. They froze in that position for a brief second, Axel's hand firmly pressing against the small of the blonde's back while Roxas himself held onto his partner's shoulder. Neither could read the other's expression as they kept their gazes locked.

Then the music track came to a halt and the moment was quickly broken in the now silent room, leaving Roxas to relax and suddenly smile.

"_Caricias_," The blonde chuckled as soon as they returned to a standing position, "A gentle stroking with the leg or shoe against some part of the partner's body."

Axel bit his lip, quite surprised. "Huh."

"There's no need to give me tango lessons, Axel. I learned more about this than you back in the academy. You can't pull any of those tricks on me."

"You're right, I suppose. I guess I'll just straight to the point." Axel sighed, feigning defeat. Roxas's counter-attack had been quite effective, but had also proven Axel's growing suspicions. The red-head's lips abruptly sprouted a mischievous grin. He still had one last move up his sleeve.

"I think I just found my new partner."

Roxas's immediate reaction was less than enthusiastic. "Right. And I'm a ballerina."

Axel only smiled, used to Roxas's scowling responses. "Is that a hint of sarcasm or denial?"

"Refusal." Roxas quipped back, turning on his heel to leave. However, Axel managed to snatch his wrist at the very last moment and, with a fluid motion, pulled Roxas back with a flick of his arm. The blonde was flung into Axel's chest with a gasp. The red-head, however, now had a set goal in mind. He adjusted their poses back into the standard dancing positions, keeping a determined vice-like grip around the blonde's waist and hand.

Roxas had no choice but to fall back into dancing. Axel led them in slow circles, their feet moving back and forth with the simple _one_-two­-_three­-_four rhythm.

"The tango is a dance of passion." Axel finally spoke after they had settled into a pattern and Roxas had simmered down. "Where the lead, the man, is chasing after his partner and the woman hasn't decided whether or not she wants the man."

Roxas said nothing, maintaining a stubborn, stony silence as they danced on in the hushed training room. Axel continued, "It's a passionate dance, subtle but with deliberate movements as the pair move with the intention of proving their feelings for each other without being too obvious."

Axel suddenly pulled Roxas into a swift spin that left the blonde against the wall with Axel pinning him there. Roxas stared at the red-head, ignoring the way that Axel's fingers were still curled tightly around his or that the grasp around his hip had tightened considerably. He didn't even bother wondering how the taller man had managed to trap him so well.

"You and I have been dancing longer than almost all the people we saw today." Axel spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully as if he himself wasn't sure about where he was going with his sentences. "We know each other; we can manipulate the dance how we want to."

"If we dance together at International, people will get the wrong idea. It's not done, Axel. It might even be against regulations." Roxas grated out, forcing himself to remain calm. "This is insane."

"You know as well as I do that if there's anyone who's perfect to dance the tango with me, Roxas, it's you." Axel breathed out, eyes shining with hope. Roxas already felt himself melting slightly under the red-head's intense green gaze. Damnit, he was _such a push-over for the idiot._

Dipping his head down so that his bangs hid his eyes, as well as his emotions, the blonde shoved Axel away and stormed past him before the other man could prevent him from escaping. At the door, however, the small twinge of regret made the choreographer stop. He took a deep breath, knowing full well that Axel was still watching him.

"… I'll think about it." And with one last huff, the blonde walked out and slammed the door shut behind him.

Axel was left in the empty training room, first at a loss for words. Roxas's promising message eventually managed to break through the red-head's stalled brain, which may or not have been a result of the smoldering glare that Roxas had been giving him only seconds before.

_Wait… He'll think about it?_

…

"YES!" The dancer took a moment to punch the air in triumph before, without further ado, scurrying off to go and retouch his tango routine. Now that Roxas was going to be his possible partner, he'd definitely need to make some adjustments. Roxas himself had proven with his little leg-rubbing action that Axel's current steps were, by far, in need of change.

They just weren't sexy enough.


	2. Arrepentida

D: Ohhay. Long time no update, huh? Yeah. Um. I … suck. Hard. But summer's brought on a little more pressure than I thought. I'm working almost nonstop now and most of the time I spend at home is being exhausted or going nuts over my Roxas cosplay for Otakon. I'm very sorry, guys, but please bear with me, I'm trying my utmost best to get back into writing, truly.

_Written for, as always, Nijuuni. May this chapter be as to your liking as the first one was._

* * *

**Entregarme**

Step Two - "Arrepentida"

* * *

"Morning, guys. We'll be starting a new dance today. How many of you are familiar with… tango?"

Roxas had always had a passion for dance. He blamed most of it on his ballroom-dance obsessed mother. She had spent most of her life competing in dance tournaments and attempting to pass on her talent to her young son. Nevertheless, he would never allow her to take all the credit. No mother in the world could have made him attend a dance academy if he hadn't wanted it. The fact that he was gay eased the pain of wearing tights for four years, too.

He kept his talents to ballroom; nothing interpretive or hip-hop-ish for him. However, out of all the styles he knew so well -- rumba, foxtrot, samba, salsa, waltz, lambada, and so on -- tango was still his favorite, even if he kept all of his routines on the calmer, safer side. Which was funny, considering just how much he currently despised the dance.

He wanted to blame it on a nice, rational cause. But his nagging brain wouldn't let him. It knew very well that the reason he was having second thoughts about tango was because now, he couldn't imagine himself as lead, but as the follow.

And as his imagination brought Axel in as the lead, Roxas couldn't deny that _that_ fact alone was the very reason he was displeased. Or, to be completely specific, the reality that he _liked_ the fact that Axel was the lead was why his mood had taken a grim turn.

It didn't help that he had to start tango lessons today. He led dance classes at the studio every day and the course had specified that they'd start on that style of dance by the end of the week. Roxas looked out at the pairs standing before him, getting ready for their class. He could deal with it. They were beginners; they wouldn't be getting into anything as extensive as what he and Axel had done exactly seven days ago. What with their intimacy and daring moves that had only been witnessed before being done by a man and a woman. The swaying hips, the close proximity… Roxas abruptly frowned, realizing his imagination was running away with him again.

The way that Axel had pinned him to the wall still sent shivers up his spine.

Roxas nearly smacked himself for bringing _that_ up again. It was bad enough that he had started having dreams about it, but to continue thinking about it in his waking reality only made matters worse. He had been trying to steer clear of the prying and nagging red-head and had succeeded in avoiding confrontation thus far; the blond had yet to give a definite answer as to whether or not he would be Axel's partner for the competition. Roxas himself wasn't exactly sure what to say yet.

After all, he _was_ crushing on the red-head. Developing thoughts beyond friendship, thinking outside the box, wanting to take a step further, so to speak. Roxas had even been unable to resist flirting with Axel, despite his better judgment. Not that Axel even suspected, of course. The blond still supposed that the previous week's stunt of oh-so casually peeling his shirt off and flicking his hair back, right in front of the other man, had been a little too much.

But while dancing with Axel at a tournament, and tango no less, was extremely tempting, the blatant man-on-man action was probably not going to fly very well with the judges or the crowd, and Roxas didn't want to ruin his or Axel's reputations.

_The infamous gay tango dancers… oh yeah, catchy._ Roxas inwardly cringed. He didn't want to think about it now. It wasn't the time. He had a class to lead. With a bright smile, he stepped forward to address his students, eyes roaming over all six pairs as he shoved his own thoughts to the back of his mind.

"So. Can anyone tell me the basic idea of tango?"

"It's a dance of passion, meant to express the intimacy between the lead and his follow." An amused reply immediately came from the end of the line of dancers. Roxas didn't even need to turn his head to know who had spoken.

The lanky red-head smirked at the instructor, arms folded across his chest and scarlet ponytail draped over his shoulder and tight black shirt. Roxas could only quirk an eyebrow at his best student, unsurprised. He decided to comment on the empty space beside the man instead. "Reno, where's your partner today?"

"Elena's out sick, but she made me come away." Reno replied with an easy grin, shrugging and moving his arms to prop them on his hips instead. "I guess you're just going to have to be my partner, _teacher_."

Roxas didn't miss the gleam in the man's sly eyes. He sighed as the rest of the class's females giggled to themselves.

He _really_ hated tango.

* * *

"_One_, two_, three,_ four… _One_, two_, three,_ four… _One_, two-- ah, fuck this…"

With a curse, the red-head kicked the nearby beat box and angrily threw himself down onto the floor to sit as the tango music continued to stubbornly play.

Axel was sulking. Moping. Brooding. Sitting with a particularly pissed off but gloomy expression on his face, so to speak.

He didn't like to sulk, mope, brood, etc. It certainly wasn't manly, for one. But after being avoided by a certain blond for a week, he just couldn't help it. Roxas had yet to give an answer to his suggestion about the competition and the time for them to practice their routine was growing shorter by the day. Even worse, the red-head was almost positive that Roxas was actually _avoiding_ him.

'Pining' could have very well been added to his list, too.

It had been a stressing week. The red-head had been putting all of his effort into mixing up his old tango routine, making sure to keep the moves acceptable enough for Roxas's taste. At the same time, he fretted and worried to a possible unnecessary extent. Roxas's missing presence was quite discouraging. Axel had been sure that after a few days, the blond would have returned to practicing with him as usual, even with the partner proposal hanging over their heads. Instead, the red-head hadn't even caught a glimpse of Roxas since the partner auditions.

There were times before where the two of them had spent whole days together, dancing, working on choreography, as well as going out to lunch. It had been a norm for Axel to see his friend's face almost constantly.

That had probably been one of the key reasons why the red-head had unknowingly begun taking an interest in the other man, but it certainly wasn't his fault. The blond was just too…_ something_ for his own good. Cuteness? Stubbornness? Axel couldn't exactly put his finger on what it was, but there was an aspect about the blond that kept the older dancer coming back for more, whether he liked it or not.

"This blows."

Axel stared mournfully at his reflection, sitting on the floor in one of the practice rooms as he frowned to himself. The tango music he had been dancing to was still continuing in the background, but the man wasn't paying attention. He was thinking.

At this point, a few options were still open to him. He could find a new partner; almost certainly female. Axel frowned. _I suppose that option is still open. In fact, that's what I'm going to fall back on if Roxas absolutely refuses. Which he won't, because I'll start begging him if he does, damnit._

Axel could forget the whole competition altogether and wait for Yuffie and another tournament. The red-head immediately shot that one down with a huff. _No way in hell. I didn't just re-do my whole routine to wait another five or six months to actually dance it._

Axel sighed, scratching the back of his head thoughtfully and stretching his legs out before himself. That left the final option.

If Roxas wouldn't give him an answer, Axel would have to go and _make_ him answer. And that sounded like the perfect and, really, only reasonable option. Or, at least, the most effective.

Axel glanced at the nearby clock as he tied his hair back. The blond was in the middle of lessons, but that hadn't been a problem for him before. Axel had interrupted some of his other classes loads of times. It was almost worth it to have all of the girls in the class stop dead and start squealing in his direction while Roxas gave him the best death glare he could muster.

And if Axel had to go and do something drastic in front of all those squealing girls to convince Roxas to dance with him at the competition, he would. Without hesitation. Granted, Roxas would be pissed off at him, but the blond just didn't know any better.

Roxas would see that agreeing to dance with him was the right choice. He would see that they made the perfect pair.

"Let's just hope this works." Axel muttered under his breath, standing. With a final direct kick to the boombox's stop button, making the music come to a screeching halt, the red-head walked out of the room, ready to get himself a partner.

He walked at first, smiling to himself as he passed by other dancers in the hall who were getting ready to practice. Sure, he would possibly be a little uncompromising and stiff at first, but the scowling blond would see the light eventually. Right? Dancing together wouldn't make them seem overly gay or stupid. The competition wouldn't put a strain on their relationship in the least and Axel wouldn't let his stupid little attraction to his friend get in the way, either. Of course not.

Quite innocently, Axel picked it up to a decent speed-walking pace. Axel wanted to hurry, after all. He couldn't miss Roxas's lesson. There was only half an hour left of it and it took two minutes to walk there from his own end of the studio to the other where the dance classes were.

He was jogging now. Accidents could happen on the way there. The red-head could slip and fall, which would take about five minutes of recovery time, and Axel had absolutely no time to lose. Every second was absolutely vital in his quest to convince Roxas.

Axel wasn't panicking. He wasn't panicking or getting nervous or stressed at all. A nervous gulp later, red-head went into an all-out sprint, dodging around the other occupants of the hall as he ran. The unshakable thought of "What if he says no?" gave him speed and suddenly, the man couldn't wait a moment longer. He needed to see Roxas _now_.

* * *

Seeing Axel, on the other hand, was the _last_ thing on Roxas's mind. He already had one cocky red-head on his hands and two would have been pushing his patience limit.

Reno had turned out to be a good lead. He had style and grace, as well as confidence. Roxas had no problem instructing him in what steps and the taller man proved to be an excellent partner for demonstrating the basics of the tango to the rest of the dance class. In fact, Roxas would have been extremely impressed with the red-head if not for the man's obnoxious, overwhelming, bothersome cockiness.

"We're not working on these steps right now, y'know." The blond grit out, trying his best to keep his cool. They had just barely gotten into the basic steps of the tango and the student was already pulling intricate footwork and twists while the rest of the class struggled to simply fall into beat with the tango music filling the room. Roxas was not amused and the way that his patience was slowly being chipped away did not improve his mood.

_Barrida… cangrejo… picados… _Roxas named off the intricate little steps as they went along, trying not to roll his eyes, _Yes, alright, I get it, you're amazing, now knock it off…_

Reno smirked in response, leading the shorter blond into a spin, his slender hands wrapped firmly about Roxas's waist. "I realize, actually, teacher, but I figured that since this might be my only chance to dance with you, I should attempt to maybe impress you."

"Oh?" Roxas merely raised an eyebrow, not looking too surprised as he silently cursed his height. He had no trouble keeping up with Reno's little trick and turns, but it was the way that Reno seemed to overpower him that bothered him the most. The blond actually had to look _up_ to meet Reno's gaze. "And you think that throwing in an extra step or two will just render me awe-struck and flabbergasted with amazement, huh?"

"Are you saying that it's not working?" Reno looked almost hurt, but Roxas knew better. People like the red-haired student always had other ploys up their sleeves.

The blond looked away briefly to make sure the rest of the class was still practicing before returning to Reno's amused stare. "I've practiced with championship winners, Reno. I'm not going to lie, I'm quite impressed with your skills as is; I'm not even entirely sure why you're in this class since you dance so well already, but it's not anything I haven't seen before."

_I've never seen anyone so absolutely full of themselves before like you, though. Even Axel can't top you._ The blond thought with a grumble, wondering how much longer the torture could last. Instead of voicing his disgruntled thoughts, though, Roxas forced Reno to slow their steps and looked back to his students. "Now, try to throw in some turns and dips, or get in a little closer into the _abrazo_ position that we went over yesterday, guys-gah!"

Reno hadn't waited a moment longer, dragging Roxas back into step with the music and proceeded to spin him away from himself. As soon as the blond returned back to position with the red-head and placed his hand back on Reno's shoulder, they went off again into their regular basic steps, the taller man grinning sneakily, looking as pleased as a cat with a bird in its mouth.

Roxas's lips dropped into a scowl. "Do you mind giving me a little warning next time before you start flinging me around like that?"

"What, can't keep up, teach?" Reno tried to look innocent, but failed, obviously finding it difficult to keep the pleased smirk off his face. Roxas's temper only continued to rise. If it had been Axel, the blond would have taken control of the dance, pulling out some tricks of his own. But they would be wasted on Reno, so Roxas kept himself in check, biting back his annoyance and, to his woe, allowing Reno to continue leading him about.

He may have very well made it through the class, Reno and all, but the red-head obviously hadn't picked up on the warning signs from Roxas. He decided to play his ace. That was about when Reno began throwing in little subtle touches. A swipe of his hand up Roxas's thigh, a brief, feather-like squeeze of his hips, a barely-there rub of his ass…

Roxas nearly snapped and his eyes immediately darkened with anger. The man was not only cocky, but he just didn't know when to quit. After the third time that Reno's sneaky fingers fondled his bottom, the dance teacher had had enough. As calmly and elegantly as possible, Roxas attempted to slide out from Reno's arms, intent on addressing the class again with the excuse that he needed a 'break.'

"Roxas." The blond paused, surprised to hear his actual name on the taller student's lips, rather than the regular teasing 'teacher' nickname. He just managed to turn and face Reno when the red-head reached out and pulled Roxas in. One blink later and already, Roxas's back was up against Reno's chest and he was trapped.

Roxas felt one of Reno's arms creep around to curl around his shoulder while another hand slipped down to slide along his outer thigh, which quickly progressed to the inner side. Even worse, there was a pair of lips soon at his ear. Their backs were to the class, so Roxas could see his own startled expression in the wall of mirrors before him, as well as his partner's head propped on his shoulder. Reno was so obviously in his personal space.

"_Roxas_…" Reno whispered slyly, voice soft as he met the blond's eyes in their mirror reflections, "Don't you want to keep dancing?"

Blessing himself with his fortune of having had experience in this sort of thing with another particularly obnoxious red-head, Roxas relaxed. Lifting his arm, he pulled it up to Reno's neck, looking straight up at the other man, nose just barely sliding across the taller man's cheek.

"Reno…" He sighed softly, fingers gently curling into the neck hairs beneath Reno's ponytail. His eyes floated up wistfully to meet Reno's smoldering gaze and he held his breath a moment. Just as he saw the spark of triumph in the red-head's eyes, _just_ as he could see Reno's smirk widening slightly with delight, Roxas abruptly smirked and tugged back at the man's hair, free hand moving to shove Reno in the chest, away from himself. "Take a break, Reno."

Reno grunted in pain, stumbling back while Roxas began to put some distance between them, eager to get out of the other man's seduction zone or _whatever_ that was. He didn't take two steps when he bumped into his very own red-head.

"Oh… Axel." Roxas blinked, taking in the sight of the other man. Axel was staring directly over his shoulder, at Reno, hands tightened into fists.

And he didn't look very happy.

* * *

Axel had been trying to prepare himself for the worst. He had been more than ready for Roxas's downright refusal, for his rejection, for practically _anything_. Or so he had decided as he had sprinted down the halls.

But as he had skidded to a halt outside of Roxas's class, peering through the small door window, his eyes had nearly fallen out of his head with shock. Nothing in the world could have prepared him for _that._

Axel couldn't exactly wrap his mind around the sight. Roxas certainly _wasn't_ dancing with a taller red-head, a _student of his_, no less. Roxas's back _wasn't_ at that moment attached to the stranger's chest. He _didn't_ have his arm about the other man's neck, and the other man _didn't_ have his own hands all over his Roxas. No. Absolutely not.

He vaguely remembered slamming open the door and storming in. He just barely recalled glowering at the strange red-head before forcing a steely smile. It was hard to think straight, his mind was buzzing too loudly with anger as his inner self howled with disgust, wanting to rip apart the wannabe dancer who had been touching his blond._ His_ blond, thank you very much.

"May I cut in?"

"Axel, it's not-" Roxas started, but was interrupted.

The strange red-head returned the smile, looking a tad annoyed despite the supposed friendly gesture. "Be my guest. We were just finishing up, anyway."

"Thank you." Axel replied coldly, stepping forward and snatching up Roxas's hand, the blond's protests passing right over his head. Roxas looked irritated and still a little surprised. Axel's brain sensed a tango tune playing somewhere and his feet were already falling into rhythm, pulling his partner and friend close as he began to lead.

He moved without thinking, just seeing Roxas's blue eyes staring at him past the hazy mist over his vision. He couldn't get over the fact that Roxas, _his_ Roxas, had been dancing with another guy. After all that nonsense the previous week and the blond was already dancing with some other guy? That just would not do.

Axel pulled Roxas in as close as possible, dropping his voice to a whisper as they continued to move. "So have you taken enough time to think about my offer?"

"Er…" The blond took a longer pause than what Axel had enough patience to wait for. The red-head swiftly stepped forward, bending his legs. Roxas matched him step for step, keeping a tight grip on Axel's shoulder and hand as they moved into a set of quick footsteps, Roxas's mind automatically rattling off the names of the steps.

_Media Vuelta…_ _lapiz…_The two of them spread apart, taking half-steps away from each other, then Axel pulled Roxas right back again, one leg sweeping outward, foot tracing the beginnings of circle on the floor.

"Well?" Axel murmured as their faces came close.

Roxas didn't exactly have an answer ready. He swallowed, "Well… I have thought about it."

The two spun together, quickly performing figure eights, _ochos,_ as they moved. Roxas's world spun and his words flew back into his throat. Axel still seemed to be in control, though, and the red-head's face was the only thing still in focus for the blond. Their pace was quick, but the movements were slow and deliberate, Axel controlling every move they made, making sure to make it obvious that he was the lead, that he was the one chasing after his partner. There was a meaning behind every turn and twist and still, Axel never tore his burning gaze away from Roxas's for more than a second.

"And?"

"Ah…" Roxas stuttered. Axel twisted them around, releasing the blond's torso slightly so that Roxas leaned away from him. They swiftly went into a spin that brought Roxas back into an upright position from the momentum. "Damnit, stop dancing and give me a moment to explain!"

The end was abrupt. Axel, more than happy to comply, came to a quick halt, arms sliding down to Roxas's waist to pull the smaller man into himself. After a moment, his wildly beating heart calmed, even though Axel hadn't even noticed that it had been pounding away in his chest in the first place. His vision even managed to clear away some of the furious crimson mist over his eyes and the red-head finally saw Roxas in clear view, frowning at him. A quick glance around proved that the rest of the blond's class had ceased dancing and all of the students were gaping in awe at the two.

_Huh. Maybe I overdid it a little with impressing Roxas into submission._

"Do you have an answer now?" Axel turned back to Roxas, eyes shining from the effort he had put into the dance, unable to keep the smirk from his lips at the blond's dazed expression.

"I…" Roxas stared blankly at Axel, trying to bring his spinning thoughts back to earth. It was cruel of the red-head to make him decide _now_. The blond had spent a week racking his brains over his choice and after such a mind-rattling dance where it had taken all of his thoughts to keep up with Axel, all of his energy just to maintain speed, he was being forced to choose?

He furrowed his brow. "You're not being fair."

Axel was smiling, though, holding the blond close enough so that his warm breath skittered over Roxas's nose. "You saw what we just did, didn't you? Without even any warning, you fell right into step with me and didn't miss a beat."

"That's not the point!"

Axel pouted slightly. "I think it is. Do you really need any more proof that you should dance with me at the competition? You're the _only_ one, Roxas. _Please._"

"Was that what you came here for?" Roxas finally sighed, pushing away at the red-head until Axel released him.

"You have been avoiding me for a week. It's not like I had a choice." Axel replied, scratching the back of his head. With the euphoria of dancing now fading, the red-head was quickly getting nervous again. "Plus, I don't like him." He jabbed a finger over his shoulder to where Reno was still standing, looking quite defeated, as Axel noted happily.

Roxas glared at him, his staring dance students forgotten. "You can't just storm in here and expect me to give you my answer!"

"But you can't just ignore me for a week and expect me to be patient!" Axel argued, getting annoyed with how stubborn the blond was. "All I need to know is yes or no!"

The blond's body went rigid. "It's not that simple!"

Axel took a deep breath, stepping forward to clasp Roxas's shoulder, trying to keep the peace. He frowned as he noticed that Roxas was avoiding his eyes, staring down angrily at the floor. "It is that simple. Yes or no, Roxas. Will you dance with me at the competition in a few weeks?"

In the silence that followed, Reno unexpectedly spoke up, causing the squabbling two to turn in his direction.

"I think you should do it, teach. You two look amazing together."

"Yeah, do it, Roxas!" Another student spoke up, grinning and flashing the blond a thumbs-up.

Roxas looked up in disbelief, watching as the rest of the class began to join in, clamoring and urging their teacher to dance. He looked back to Axel, intent on telling him off for corrupting his students, but the words died in his throat as he noticed Axel's anxious smile.

"C'mon, Rox." Axel spoke softly, chuckling, "If you won't listen to me, would you at least listen to your class? It's only one dance, I think we can handle that much."

Roxas looked from his class to the red-head a few more times before putting on an angry scowl to hide his embarrassment. He could already feel his other excuses, his defenses against the idea, just being cracked the thrown away. _Once a push-over… always a push-over. _Damn it_._

"Just one dance, right?" He mumbled gruffly, glancing up to Axel's hopeful look.

"Just one little tango performance, Roxas." The red-head squeezed his partner's shoulder. "C'mon. For me?"

"I won't do it for you." Roxas replied, ignoring the warmth that was spreading through his arm from Axel's hand. It grew quiet in the room as everyone waited for his answer. The blond finally flushed, running a hand through his hair as he shook off Axel, "I'll do it for Yuffie."

Axel's eyes visibly widened. "But you'll do it?"

Roxas began to turn away, hoping to make a break for it and avoid the cheery response from Axel. He just knew that if he saw the other man smile, he would too, and he didn't want to be defeated so easily quite yet. Roxas just _knew_ that he would regret his decision. There would be repercussions later and he didn't have the right to be smiling and laughing about it. If Axel wasn't going to see any flaws in his plan, it was up to Roxas to point them out for him.

"Yeah, I'll do it."

It was all for naught. Axel moved quickly, tugging the blond back into his trap, arms flying forward to curl around Roxas. Dragged back into a hug, Roxas struggled weakly to escape, glowering with all the power he could muster, but Axel just had to go and pull him tightly against him.

"Thank you, Rox. Really." The red-head whispered into the blond's ear, grateful and relieved.

And goddamn, before Roxas knew it, his lips were tipping upwards into an unwanted smile. "Just don't make me regret this."

"Oh, I won't." Axel crooned happily back, nuzzling his face into Roxas's neck and unknowingly making the blond stiffen from all the attention and touches. "But wait until you see our routine! It's so _sexy!_"

The smile immediately slipped.

_Oh yeah. I'm gonna regret this._

**_Arrepentida_: Repentant - To change one's mind. **


End file.
